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Manufacturers' Email

Well, I'm going to have to be a wet blanket on this one: I don't think that using email for technical support is a great option, at least not at present. The reason is simple: too many companies do a pathetic job of responding to it promptly, and this makes it take too long to resolve problems. While some companies respond to email in a matter of hours, some take days, and if exchange back and forth several times is necessary, you are looking at a week plus to get your problem resolved. I've heard of companies that take even longer to respond.

I'm not sure why this is; I know that technical support departments are generally overloaded, but it's still surprising that people with problems are put off in this manner on a regular basis. I think the main reasons are two: first, I think that using email sends the message that your problem is not urgent; the assumption by some companies is that if it were, you would call. The second is that many technical support people are not good typists, and typing out a long response would take too much of their time.

Whatever the reason, I recommend you consider the other options before this one.

Next: Calling For Technical Support

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